Feel good story of the day.

(Reuters) – Four al Qaeda-linked militants were killed in an apparent U.S. drone strike on Thursday in a remote part of the south of Yemen, a security official and residents said.

The security official and residents said the militants were killed in an air strike on their vehicles in the isolated area of Maqbala in Shabwa province. They said it was a drone strike.

The militants were heavily armed, carrying weapons and explosives, said the official, who declined to be named. Two militants were wounded and another fled the scene after the strike, the official added.

Yemen, a U.S. ally, has been in upheaval since a popular uprising ousted veteran president Ali Abdullah Saleh in February. Overlooking one of the world’s busiest oil shipping routes, Yemen is plagued by poverty and lawlessness that the toppling of Saleh has done little to change.